Alleged Home Invaders Are Slain

Owner Kills 2 Of 3, Harvey Police Report

November 17, 1999|By Karen Craven, Tribune Staff Writer.

Harvey police Tuesday were investigating what they said was a home invasion that left two of the three intruders dead.

Three male suspects were armed when they entered a 31-unit apartment building in the 100 block of East 155th Street about 8 p.m. Monday and allegedly forced their into a ground-floor apartment, where they faced a 22-year-old man who was also armed, said Harvey Police Chief Phillip Hardiman.

"They knocked open the door, pushed the young lady out of their way and made their way inside," Hardiman said. "The owner was there with a gun and he fired at the three people, hitting two of the three." One intruder fled.

Vincent Roberts, 17, of the 2100 block of West 171st Street, Homewood, was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. Tuesday in the Stein Institute; Thomas Davis, 26, of the 14600 block of South Clinton Street, Harvey, died at 9:18 p.m. Monday in Columbia Olympia Fields Osteopathic Hospital and Medical Center, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Autopsies conducted Tuesday found that Roberts died of a gunshot wound to the neck, while Davis suffered multiple gunshot wounds; both deaths were ruled homicides, the spokesman said.

Cook County state's attorney's office spokeswoman Marcy O'Boyle said the investigation was ongoing and charges had not been filed.

Hardiman said initial reports from the apartment's tenants and witnesses indicate that the shooting may have been in self-defense.

"This could be justified," Hardiman said.

Two guns were recovered from the scene, one belonging to one of the suspects and the other to the tenant who shot the men, police said. Police questioned the tenant at length Tuesday, Hardiman said.

"I don't think anything like this would be a random act of violence," Hardiman said, adding a motive for the home invasion had not yet been determined.

Police had taken several people into custody Tuesday, but Hardiman would not confirm if the suspect who escaped the apartment had been arrested.

Diane Rice, a tenant, said the suspects were near a back entrance and let her through with her groceries before the shooting.

"He shot them dead, but he was just doing what he had to do to protect his family," Rice said.